Monday, September 23, 2013

UN study finds 200 million fewer women online than men

There are currently 200 million fewer women online than men, and
the gap could grow to 350 million within the next three years if action is not
taken, according to a report released by the UN Broadband Commission Working
Group on Broadband and Gender.

The report revealed that around the world, women are coming online
later and more slowly than men. Of the world’s 2.8 billion internet users, 1.3
billion are women, compared with 1.5 billion men.

While the gap between male and female users is relatively small in
OECD nations, it widens rapidly in the developing world, where expensive, ‘high
status’ ICTs like computers are often reserved for use by men. In sub-Saharan
Africa, for example, the report’s authors estimate that there are only half the
number of women connected as men.

Worldwide, women are also on average 21 per cent less likely to
own a mobile phone – representing a mobile gender gap of 300 million, equating
to $13 billion in potential missed revenues for the mobile sector.

Report authors also believed that today’s untapped pool of female
users could also represent a market opportunity for device makers, network
operators, and software and app developers that might equal or even outstrip
the impact of large emerging markets like China or India.

In developing countries, every 10 per cent increase in access to
broadband translates to a 1.38 per cent growth in GDP. It means that bringing
an additional 600 million women and girls online could boost global GDP by as
much as $18 billion.

The report also outlined the
importance of encouraging more girls to pursue ICT careers. By 2015, it is
estimated that 90 per cent of formal employment across all sectors will require
ICT skills. Professionals with computer science degrees can expect to earn
salaries similar to doctors or lawyers – yet even in developed economies, women
now account for fewer than 20 per cent of ICT specialists.